 |
| Brandon Marsh hit a two-run homer and came through with a key double late. | CREDIT: Kevin McFarlane |
The Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4, Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, reducing their magic number to two to clinch at least a National League Wild Card berth, pending Arizona’s result later Tuesday.
And if there was one player who needed a night like this, it was Brandon Marsh.
Marsh entered Tuesday in the middle of one of his worst stretches of the season. He was 5-for-39 in September, hitting .128 with a .282 OPS, and had not produced a multi-hit game since Aug. 21. For a player who had been an important piece of the lineup for much of the year, September had become a month of empty at-bats and shrinking production at exactly the wrong time.
Then, against a Milwaukee team that entered Tuesday with the best record in the National League, he looked like a different hitter.
Marsh jumped Dustin May for a two-run homer in the second inning, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead after Bryson Stott walked and stole second. Then, after Stott put Philadelphia ahead with a two-out single in the eighth, Marsh lined an RBI double to center to provide the run that became especially important when Milwaukee scored in the ninth.
Two hits. Three RBIs. Six total bases.
For a Phillies lineup that has spent much of September searching for consistent production beyond its stars, Marsh’s timing could hardly have been better. Philadelphia went 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position Tuesday, and Marsh accounted for two of the Phillies’ three extra-base hits and three of their five RBIs.
The same was true for Zack Wheeler, although “timing” undersells what happened during the first three innings.
Wheeler struck out the first seven Brewers he faced, the most consecutive strikeouts to begin a game in Phillies history. The seventh, Luis Lara, pushed him past Brandon Duckworth, who struck out six straight to open a game in August 2002.
Along the way, Wheeler also recorded the 2,000th strikeout of his career when he froze Brice Turang to end the first inning.
For a while, it looked like Wheeler might carry the Phillies through the night by himself.
Milwaukee did not put a ball in play until Cooper Pratt grounded out with one out in the third. Wheeler eventually finished with 11 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits, three runs and one walk on 101 pitches.
The Brewers finally got to him in the sixth.
David Hamilton singled, stole two bases, Jackson Chourio walked and eventually stole second, and William Contreras lined a two-run single to left that erased a 3-1 Phillies lead. Wheeler departed one batter later, leaving with the score tied and no decision despite one of the more electric openings of his Phillies career.
That could have become the story of the night — another strong performance from a starter wasted while the offense went quiet.
Instead, the Phillies changed it in the eighth.
Luis Arraez and Alec Bohm delivered consecutive two-out singles against Colton Gordon. Stott followed with a liner to center that scored Arraez. Garrett Mitchell’s throwing error allowed Bohm to race home as well, breaking the tie and giving Philadelphia a 5-3 advantage.
Then came Marsh again.
His double brought Stott home and stretched the lead to three.
Jhoan Duran made the ninth a little uncomfortable, allowing a two-out RBI single to Luis Lara, but struck out two and retired Cooper Pratt on a grounder to finish it for his 33rd save.
The Phillies did not merely beat Milwaukee. They beat a 98-win Brewers team on a night when Wheeler’s brilliance did not result in a victory for him, Harper and Schwarber combined to go hitless, and a 3-0 lead disappeared.
That matters because the calendar has almost run out.
Philadelphia has five games remaining. Its postseason magic number is down to two, pending Arizona’s result. The Wild Card seeding race is still unsettled, and every win can change where the Phillies begin October. Entering Tuesday, Philadelphia occupied the third Wild Card position, one game behind the Cubs and Padres in the seeding race.
But Tuesday offered something more useful than standings math.
It offered a glimpse of how this team might survive October.
Wheeler can dominate. Stott can create a run. Arraez and Bohm can extend an inning. And perhaps most encouraging of all, a hitter who had spent September disappearing can suddenly change a game twice.
For one night, Brandon Marsh did.
And the Phillies moved another step closer to October.
More Phillies Coverage
Loading Phillies schedule...
Loading NL East standings...
